Hyundai Verna Receives 5 Star Crash Test Rating In Global NCAP Results

So we finally have it! A car from Hyundai Motor India, the Hyundai Group in fact, Made-In-India, that has managed to not just go for 5 stars here but also has done it with the strict protocol with a lot more requirements and a lot more stringent testing criteria. The Koreans have done it at last. And the one to do it is the Hyundai Verna. The Made-In-India compact sedan is the first from a Korean manufacturer to score five stars in a Global NCAP crash test. The Verna underwent voluntary testing and has achieved five stars with a robust score for both adult occupant protection and child occupant protection as well.

Alejandro Furas, Secretary General, Global NCAP said, “This vehicle has a lot of technologies and safety systems for example six airbags which are fitted as standard. And that means a huge jump forward for the manufacturer in order to offer the Indian consumers basic safety, as in the other markets. Not just by the equipment but also good performing in the vehicle.”

The Verna also underwent a side impact protection test. While here too the body shell has to absorb impact, having certain equipment as standard, like those curtain airbags, makes all the difference. The most stringent protocols also mean more stringent testing so it's not just about frontal offset as you know going for a 5-star score also requires many other components and many other facets to be covered including a pole test which is what this one went through.

A good score on the pole test is necessary to secure 5 stars. And Verna has managed that well. A car must also have other features like ISOFIX child seat anchors and ESC or electronic stability control, which also add to the scoring. The Verna was also tested for high-speed stability and pedestrian protection. The biomechanical readings show that the adult dummies have only marginal injuries. The performance in the side impact and pole tests was also good. Protection for infants and small children was also very good.

Now a car can score 5 stars in a crash test and yet have certain things that could still be pointed out as lacking or missing. In the case of the Verna, the structure has still been rated as unstable. Let's understand what that means.

Furas added, “This car was rated with an unstable structure because we have three load paths: the roof, the door, and the lower sill. And in this case, the car doesn't have a load path in the door; we only have it on the roof, and also on the sill. In both cases, we have seen signals that that system, those areas of the car will probably suffer more deformation under higher loads. That’s the reason why it was rated as an unstable structure. But that doesn't mean that the structure is conditioning the rest of the performance. The most important thing and what we count as the basis of the calculations are the biomechanical results. So if we are seeing good protection and good biomechanical results with low levels of injuries that explains why the car scored so well."

The Verna joins the Volkswagen Virtus, Taigun, Skoda Slavia, and Kushaq with 5 stars for both adult and child protection under the new, more stringent protocol. The Mahindra Scorpio N also has 5 stars, but only for adult occupant protection.

Now, on the whole, this demonstrates a huge improvement in terms of the techniques, the manufacturing process that Hyundai is now adopting, and also the change or shift in strategy and attitude for cars that are made in India. And given the fact that a lot of these cars are also now going to be exported out of India, this also bodes well for the entire group’s operation, not just the Hyundai brand.